Ready Russian: Grammar 20

In both Russian and English we can use a variety of expressions to describe the time indicated by a clock:

The concept of the hour in progress will be unfamiliar to most English speakers. It is important to understand that “the first hour” does not mean one o'clock. It means the sixty-minute period which starts at 12 o'clock and ends at one o'clock. In the examples below the hour in progress is represented by a shaded pie slice.

	The first hour began at 12 o'clock. To say that something happens at the time shown at left: в двенадцать часов десять минут—at twelve hours ten minutes в десять минут первого—at ten minutes of the first в начале первого часа—at the beginning of the first hour
	As the little hand passes the 1 the first hour ends and the second begins. To specify this time use any of these expressions: в час пятнадцать минут—at [one] hour fifteen minutes в пятнадцать минут второго—at the fifteenth minute of the second [hour] в четверть второго—at a quarter of the second hour в начале второго часа—at the beginning of the second hour
	To specify this this time: в час двадцать пять минут—at [one] hour twenty five minutes в двадцать пять минут второго—at twenty five minutes of the second [hour]
	To specify this time: в час тридцать минут—at [one] hour thirty minutes в половину второго—half of the second [hour]
	Once the hour is half-way done we may choose to say how soon the little hand will pass the next number. To specify the time shown at left: в час тридцать пять минут—at [one] hour thirty five minutes без двадцати пяти два—lacking twenty five minutes to the two
	To specify the time shown at left: в час сорок пять минут—at [one] hour forty five minutes без пятнадцати два—lacking fifteen to the two без четверти два—lacking a quarter to the two
	Once two o'clock is reached we must decline the word “час” in the genitive singular: в два часа тридцать минут—at two hours thirty minutes в половине третьего—half of the third [hour]
	Once five o'clock is reached we must decline the word “час” in the genitive plural: в пять часов тридцать минут—at five hours thirty minutes в половине шестого—half of the sixth [hour]
	If we have chosen to simply read the numbers off of the clock face and the time is after noon, we can use 24-hour time: в семнадцать часов тридцать минут—at seventeen hours thirty minutes 24-hour times is frequently used in formal contexts such as railway timetables and theatrical programs. In conversation it is more common to use a 12-hour clock and one of the expressions from the charts below to indicate AM or PM.

Grammar 20—Telling Time